The Weather Outside Was Frightful
by WiseRussano
Summary: The Big Zootopia Holiday Spectacular concert has been a waste of time and money that Nick has avoided since childhood. Still, working an extra shift is a good way to boost a new officers paycheck and Nick had to admit that the company made it more enjoyable.


Nick patted the crinkly shapeless lump tucked into his coat and scanned the shifting crowd of mammals huddled together in the chilled Tundratown square. Music blasted from the speakers while families hurried back and forth between the holiday markets and hot chocolate stands, and jostled for position by the main concert pavilion. The festivities were in full swing for 'The Big Zootopia Holiday Spectacular… Sponsored by Mousy's.'

The Tundratown square had been converted into a holiday "Wonderland" complete with outdoor market stalls and vendors. It made for a couple long days, but pulling in overtime and working crowd control wasn't a bad way to spend the evening, and the extra paycheck was a nice holiday boost for a new officer. When Bogo had asked for volunteers to pull the extra duty Judy's hand had been up before the buffalo had even asked the question. The look she had shot Nick told him that she had in fact volunteered them both.

"Excuse me, owfficer?" a small voice asked beside him. Nick turned and looked both ways before feeling a light tug on his jacket. Looking down he found a small trembling squirrel gazing up towards him with tears in her young eyes. "I'm lost and can't find mommy," the babe said.

The fox knelt to be face to face with the lost squirrel. "Well, we can fix that. Where did you last see mommy?"

"She was getting my brother a hat because it's cold and the snow was going in his fur and making it all wet and..."

"Ok, well let's see if my friend can help us." He reached up to his shoulder and keyed the two-way mic. "Hey, Carrots, you still in the market? I've got a brave little squirrel here who's misplaced her mother. You got any spare mothers around?" Even through the tears Nick thought he got a small smile from the girl.

Two minutes later the mic cracked with Judy's voice. "Don't know about spare mothers but I do have Sophie's mother here, will she do?"

"Would you be Sophie by chance?" Nick asked the child still by his knee, who nodded.

"Well, then I think it's time we go find mommy, ok?" And with that he scooped Sophie up and gently placed her onto his right shoulder. "Hold tight up there and let me know when you spot her." Turning his attention back to the radio, he said, "I've got Sophie, meet you at the south market entrance."

He set off into the crowd, the tiny squirrel babe perched on his shoulder. As he wove through the masses of mammals big and small he felt her start to tremble. _Poor thing's scared stiff. _

"You know, Sophie, I think I need some help up there," he said, glancing up towards his little friend. "You've got the better view, so maybe you can help steer? Give a little push on that ear." A moment later he felt his right ear tentatively pressed down by tiny paws. Careful not to jostle her off, he dramatically swayed his body to the left as if pushed by some force. "Whoa, better push that other ear and straighten us out." With a tiny squeak Sophie scrambled across his head and pushed on his other ear. Nick straightened up for a moment before starting to lean and take a few steps to the right. "You've got the helm, captain!" The little squirrel settled in between his ears.

It was a game he had perfected a few months back when some of Judy's youngest nieces and nephews had come to visit their city-saving aunt. The youngsters had been wary of the fox and hid behind Judy when she introduced them to her new police partner. It had taken a bit, but he had all the youngsters lined up and clamoring for the chance to go on "a fox drive" by the end of the afternoon.

Now squeaking with delight, Sophie pushed or tugged on one ear or the other while the fox swayed or stepped this way and that. Nick made sure to keep them moving towards their destination and navigate the crowded square. The sun had just set and the square was lit with thousands of small white lights strung between the stalls and high overhead. Looking up it almost looked like a canopy of stars had been lowered over Tundratown. Most of the crowd was trying to grab that last Christmas gift before the evening's final concert.

Finally, Nick spotted the familiar sight of a blue uniform against gray, white fur and black tipped ears through the throngs of shoppers. Maneuvering between a slow-moving family of hippos, Nick called up to his little pilot. "Hard to port, captain! I think we're there."

"Huh?"

"Right ear," he chuckled.

"Oh," she said pushing down hard on his ear as he made his way over towards his partner.

Judy stood calming the young squirrel mother who now held an iron grip on what Nick presumed was Sophie's new-hat-wearing, slightly older brother. Nick smiled as Judy turned towards them, the deep purple pools of her eyes seeming to light up when she saw him. Her eyes went even wider and she put a paw up to her mouth to suppress a giggle when she looked a few inches higher and spotted the tiny squirrel sitting between his ears, still intently switching from pushing one ear to pulling the other. Judy turned and whispered something to Sophie's mother as Nick approached them.

"Mommy!" Sophie called out excitedly. "I steered a fox!"

Sophie's mother hurried over as Nick knelt and gently plucked the squirrel babe from his head and put her in front of him.

"Now, you have to promise me that you won't let your mother wander off like that, ok?" he said in his best solemn tone as the young girl gave him a little nod. "Good. Moms can get lost pretty easily, so it's important you hang onto them." He gave her another smile as her mother scooped her up.

"Sophie, tell the very nice officers thank you for helping find you." Nick could sense her barely controlled anxiety now mixed with flooding relief.

"Thank you," Sophie called back to Nick. Her mother hugged Judy before looking towards Nick. She paused and regarded the fox as if unsure of what to say.

"Thank you," she said softly before turning away. Now with both her children tightly in arm she moved away into the crowd. The sound of Sophie excitedly explaining the finer points of fox navigation faded into the throngs of holiday shoppers.

"I told her that as long as she didn't seem panicked then Sophie would stay calm also," Judy said, looking up at Nick while reaching back and grabbing two paper insulated cups from a nearby table and passing one to Nick. "Looks like I didn't need to worry," she said breaking into a wide smile. "Another fan of taking the fox for a drive around the block?"

Nick took a sip of the hot chocolate and was pleasantly surprised at the sweet mini marshmallows added to the taste. The warm drink was a welcome balance against the cold of a crisp Tundratown night.

"Hey, Fluffs," pointing up to his head. "You know you're welcome to hop that cotton ball on up here anytime you want to test drive the thing. That is…if you know how to handle driving a stick shift." He was rewarded with the sight of the pink of her ears starting to shift to a darker crimson, starting at their black tips and working its way down while her mouth opened and closed. Finally, she just rolled her eyes in that comfortably familiar way.

"If I didn't know the paperwork involved I'd kill you myself," she said with her hands on her hips and one foot gently tapping the ground.

"It's all worth it just to get that look out of you," Nick said with a lazy grin, casually taking another swig of the hot chocolate and looking at the dozens of craft stalls. He was interrupted as his neck tightened and he felt himself being pulled off balance. Stumbling to keep his feet and avoid spilling his drink, he allowed himself to be lead along by the bunny holding his tie in one hand and her own drink in the other.

"Come on Slick, let's see if can still get a decent view of the concert!" she said eagerly, her small body deftly weaving between the masses of city residents, still tugging Nick by the tie.

"Slow down, Carrots, promise you're not missing much," he said, brushing her hand off his tie and freeing himself. Still, Nick had to pick up his pace to keep up with the excited rabbit. "Nothing to miss but the same overpriced, overproduced crap as every year," he added.

The Zootopia Holiday Spectacular concert had been an annual event since before Nick was a kit. Held the night of Christmas Eve, it ended the Tundratown Square market festivities and the shopping frenzy. Caroling, Bands, Sales! All designed to part the mammals of Zootopia from their money in a bigger scam than Nick could ever have dreamed up in his hustling days.

"Well then, I want us to have a good view of this overpriced and overproduced show," she called back to him. "Besides, I've never gotten to see it before, remember?"

Nick did have to remind himself that this whole city Christmas show farce was still new to his partner. Hell, it was new to him to be here and in a police uniform. He thought back to this time last year. He and Finnick scraping together just enough money to find a warm place to crash, his falling out with Mr. Big, all in all Christmas time hadn't been particularly jolly for a long time. He still found himself wondering in amazement at the strange swerve his life had taken this past year all because a meter maid had offered to buy a downtrodden fox a jumbo pop. _And if that meter maid wants a good view of some holiday schlock than by gods that what she'll get, _he thought to himself.

Whistling to get her attention, he pointed down a side passage between the stalls. "This way, Carrots, it's a shortcut."

Judy's eyes rose in question but she had learned to trust Nick, especially when it came to navigating the twists and turns of the city. Now slowed to a walk, they continued down a less busy stall-lined sidewalk. Judy looked around at the brightly lit decorations and the canopy of lights hung high above. "Isn't it pretty? Almost like a field of stars."

Nick shrugged as he looked further past the strung lights and towards the overcast sky that hung overhead. "Heard a giraffe complain that they hung them just a little too low this year. If the city spends enough money and has a small, small mammal army to hang them you can make anything look pretty."

"You've got no holiday spirit, Nick."

Nick just gestured around at the whole spectacle. "They've spent more money than either of us will ever make, well, _legally_, all to get us in the 'holiday spirit' to spend even more money at the 'Big Zootopia Holiday Spectacular…. Sponsored by Mousy's' or Calvin Swine or Hoof Locker or whatever company shells out next year."

Judy sighed as they walked on towards the Amphitheater. "Looks like someone's angling for a shipment of coal." She suddenly stopped in front of a stall selling coats, hats, and other winter garb. "Stand right there," she said, grabbing Nick by the arm and shoving him in front of a small mammal mirror. She reached up behind him and grabbed a black top hat and placed it on his head with a small jump. The look was completed when she slung a dark overcoat over his shoulder and shoved a small cane into his hands.

"Say it!" she ordered, standing beside him and admiring her work in the mirror.

"No idea what you mean. I think I cut a rather handsome figure," he said, but finally hunched down into the coat and leaned against the cane while glowering into the mirror. "Bahhh Humbug!"

A few minutes later Nick ducked under a low security barrier near the side of the pavilion. Now away from the heated, snow-free sidewalks, their paw steps crunched in the light snow as Nick lead them to a door marked 'employees only'.

"What, Carrots, you afraid someone's going to call the cops?" Nick responded to the look she shot him. Still she followed him in and then up a steep metal flight of stairs. Nick stopped at the top and held open another door marked with an ominous 'Caution' sign.

Judy stepped through the door and gave a small surprised gasp; the entire crowded pavilion lay below them and the sound of the choir rose towards them. Nick had lead them up to a lighting catwalk that hung down from the roof of the large semi open-air pavilion. "Finnick showed me this spot years ago, guy's an opera fan if you can believe it," Nick said while gingerly stepping over cables and gripping tightly to the railings.

Judy followed, still gawking down towards the crowd and stage below them. It really was a spectacular view, she thought, as Nick found a spot to sit between the rows of large lights pointing down towards the stage. Judy noticed that he kept one arm and paw tightly wrapped around one of the lower safety railings and his legs as far back from the edge as possible. _Nick's afraid of heights _she reminded herself, looking down and around at their surroundings with even more surprise as she sat down by her partner.

Above the concert hall and its regularly spaced heat lamps, the breeze from outside cut against their fur a little bit sharper. Judy gave a small shiver and tried to hunch deeper into her coat. Despite their supposed best efforts, the Z.P.D hadn't managed to produce standard issue coats that fit either of the small pair particularly well and left Judy shivering in the cold. Nick dug into his coat that was a good size too big for him and pulled out the silver wrapped package that had padded his chest for most of the afternoon

"Was going to wait till tomorrow, but it's painful to look at you right now," Nick said passing the package to Judy, her eyes arched in surprise.

"Nick, you didn't..." she said smiling, while pulling at the twine that loosely held the wrapping together. Nick had spotted it the day before while they had been patrolling the

market and had come back for it this afternoon.

"Oh, its beautiful, and so soft," Judy exclaimed, holding up the long scarf. It was a light red on one side and a darker green on the other with a thick golden thread running down the middle of both sides.

"Paper work or not I figured you'd try and kill me if I had it and let you freeze up here. Merry Christmas," he said as Judy wrapped the scarf around her neck and settled in beside him.

The concert was much as Nick had remembered it. A pair of hokey reindeer MC's leading the crowd in carols and a children's choir on stage accompanied by a band. Still Judy was enjoying it, joining in loudly with some decking of the halls complete with fa la la laling. Nick even found himself singing along to the old favorites. Was it all an overproduced excuse to separate mammals from their money? Sure, but Nick did have to admit that it was nice to occasionally allow himself to simply be swept up in her enthusiasm. Somehow, she had that ability to make him believe things that he knew to be impossible. Even if believing those things had led him off several literal cliffs in the last year.

"How are you so good with them?" Judy asked softy, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to the moment.

"Good with who? I'm pretty good with everyone, you know."

"With kids," she said, motioning down towards where the children's choir had just finished an enthusiastic if off key "Joy to the world." "My nieces still ask when they can come visit again and I think little Sophie tonight joined your fan club. I've had a lifetime of little brothers and sisters but it seemed so natural to you."

Nick thought for a few moments, trying to form an answer

"I guess it's about understanding fear and control," he said with a shrug, before smiling at the confusion on Judy's face.

"In a lot of ways, it's not so different from a hustle. The kids start out being afraid of the big scary fox and I find a way to redirect or distract them from that fear, turn it into a game where they have the control. So, Sophie didn't get 'lost' tonight, she found a fox and got to steer that fox back to find her lost mother. Turn the thing they are afraid of around and into a fun game that they control and it takes away the fear."

"Huh," Judy said thoughtfully. "I guess I never thought about it that way," she said looking up at him. "That's actually really good." She paused for a moment. "I'll have to remember that one for myself next time I'm afraid, make it something fun."

"Hard to imagine you being afraid of anything, Carrots," Nick lightly scoffed.

"That's… well, that's just not true at all," Judy said, looking back where the choir was starting up the next song. She toyed with the edges of her scarf, flipping back and forth between red and green.

The concert seemed to end surprisingly soon and they climbed down with the last notes of "Silent Night" still echoing in the Tundratown night. As was holiday tradition, an extra evening snowfall was coming down from above and coating the ground in a new layer of artificially made snow.

"It's snowing!" Judy laughed, running her paws along a snow-covered railing.

"It's Tundratown, it snows every day. News flash- it's going to be hot tomorrow in Sahara Square"

"Still, it's a nice touch, extra snow for Christmas eve," Judy said as they walked towards the inter district connector tunnels.

"My tax dollars at work."

"Your… tax dollars?" Judy said turning back and giving him a skeptical look.

"Honest to fox," he said, holding up three claws in mock salute. "As of a few months back I am an honest, tax paying mammal. Did you know you have to pay those things every year! All so that one department can heat up the pavement to melt the snow made by another department, all so that you..." he said, pointing at Judy and the snow accumulating in her paw, "can look cute in a selfie." She spun around, her new scarf ends flapping in the air, but Nick had already stepped aside. The snowball breezed past his shoulder.

"Predictable as this snow, Fluffs, got to be more creative if you want to surprise a crafty fox," he said with a wink.

The crowds had thinned by the time they entered the pedestrian tunnels that would take them back towards downtown Savana Central where Nick would drop Judy off and catch the light rail home. Tunnels branched off towards other neighborhoods and districts. The cold air of Tundratown behind them mixed with the sticky warm air from a side tunnel leading up to the Rainforest district. It could be a confusing maze but Judy had learned to navigate it almost just by the smell and feel of the air. The dry artificially-chilled air of Tundratown slowly gave way to the naturally cold night air of Savana Central. Nick walked in content silence, slightly surprised to find that despite himself he had enjoyed the concert. _Well, it's more the company that I'm enjoying it with if I'm honest,_ he thought, before pushing that annoyingly familiar thought back into place. He looked back at Judy who had fallen a few steps behind him. Her eyes where turned towards him but Nick noted the distracted look on her face, her nose slightly twitching in the funny way it did when she was lost in thought.

"You alright there?" he asked.

"Huh?" she said, coming back to attention. "Yeah, I was just thinking."

"Well, there's your first mistake."

Judy was about to respond with a quip of her own when a pair of booming voices from behind made them both jump. "_Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way_!" The voices echoed off the tunnel walls. They both turned and watched as two boisterous singers raced around the corner and into view. Judy broke into laughter as a young Shrew and Chipmunk scurried by, clanging tiny bells in each paw, their voices seeming as loud as any elephant in the tunnel. "_Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh," _they called as they rounded the next bend and went out of sight. "Guys wait up…guys?" a small Meerkat pleaded, running behind, trying to catch up. Whatever had been bothering Judy seemingly forgotten as she nudged him in his side.

"Sounds like a lot of wishes coming true tonight," Judy said.

"How do you figure that?"

"You know, how when a bell rings it means someone gets a wish?" Judy said, her pace picking up slightly.

"I thought an angel was supposed to get its wings."

"Oh, so Mr. Cynical does know the story," she said, winking. "I think that particular angel's wish was to have it wings."

Nick thought on this as the three voices and ringing bells continued to resonate in the tunnels. "_We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year" _slowly faded into the night.

Another five minutes of walking brought them to the Savana Central tunnel exit and the short walk to the Grand Pangolin Arms apartments. Nick froze in surprise at the entrance and for a moment wondered if they had somehow backtracked in the tunnel.

"It...It's snowing?" he said, not believing his eyes. A light white coating barely covered the grass while big flakes hung in the air and gently drifted down from above. He watched, cross-eyed as a flake landed on the tip of his snout, sat for a moment and melted. He had a hard time remembering the last time that it had snowed in Savana Central. Somehow even the air smelt crisper and more alive than in Tundratown.

"Oh, but when _I _say it, its breaking news," Judy said with a smirk, walking ahead into the lightly falling flurries. "Let's cut through the park."

Still gazing around at the newly coated streets, Nick followed her into the city park. By his guess, it had been lightly snowing for the last hour and already seemed to be slowing down. They might have to help dig out Little Rodentia tomorrow but most of this snow would likely be gone by lunch. Yet the familiar park seemed cast in a new almost alien light as Nick walked behind his partner, fox and rabbit paw prints intermixed in the fresh fallen snow.

Rounding a slight bend in the path they came across three youngsters stacking large balls of snow into a Snowsheep, all the while alternating between laughing and arguing over the proper order of assembly. It took Judy just a moment to recognize the Meerkat, Chipmunk, and Shrew from the tunnel. She smiled, thinking of the many times she and her siblings had tried to make Snowsheep and how often it had just turned into a running mass snowball fight.

Judy turned to Nick. "You want to go tell them that the holidays are all a cynical ploy for their money, or should I?"

"Bahhh Humbug," Nick said grinning.

There were far fewer than at 'The Big Zootopia Holiday Spectacular… Sponsored by Mousy's' but someone had strung up colored lights between some of the trees and along the park path. Judy stood in front of Nick. "Come on, Nick, even you have to admit this is a pretty sight," she said gesturing around her.

Nick took in the scene, the snow covered grass and trees, the strings of lights hanging above the kids playing in the snow. And Judy, standing in front of it all, her wide smile and earnest deep purple eyes seeming to glimmer in the light. The gold thread in the red and green scarf wrapped around her neck slightly shimmering back the colored lights overhead. Of all the twists and turns that his life had taken, the small bunny standing in front of him was the biggest. The Nick of a year ago could never have imagined how his life could so suddenly be changed by the sheer energy and force of will of one crazy Judy Hopps. The Nick of now realized that he couldn't imagine his life without it.

"Yeah, Carrots, it's beautiful," he said, allowing himself to indulge in just a moment of self-honesty.

"And his heart grew three sizes that day," she smiled up at him and for a second he wondered if she could sense that heart beating faster, but instead they walked on past the hip height Snowsheep. Nick couldn't pinpoint when over the months it had happened, but somewhere between late night academy study sessions, days spent showing his new partner the city or being forced to listen to the entire Gazelle discography on repeat he had come to the troubling realization that he loved every moment of it and that he loved… _Well even admitting it to myself seems dangerous._ Still so many thoughts rose to mind when he looked back and saw her face, from black tipped ears to her slowly twitching nose. Somedays it even seemed worth his murder to call her cute. The pair walked in silence through the slowly falling snow. He already counted himself lucky and well, hoping for anything more seemed impossible. _If bells do grant wishes I figure I've already used my rings up._

She had slowed slightly as they exited the park and back onto the city street a block away from her apartment, gazing intently off into the distance. Nick was about to ask what was up when she suddenly spun towards him

"Crazy, this snow, right?" she said, catching him off guard. "I mean in Tundratown sure, but I didn't think the city center got much snow."

Nick shrugged. "Not this early in the winter. I was a kit last time we had Christmas snow." He looked up at the streetlights and the thinning snow. "Looks like it won't last much longer."

"Maybe... but Pop-Pop always said that these things come in waves. Not sure Savanah Central will know what do in a big winter storm!" she said, oddly energetically.

Nick looked around at the fallen snow that barely managed to cover the grass. There wasn't much foot or vehicular traffic out at this late hour but the mammals that they had passed seemed amused by the snow rather than concerned.

"Well, break out an ice cream scoop and hairdryer to rescue little Rodentia but..." But Judy interrupted, jumping ahead of him and throwing her arms wide.

"The Great Zootopia Holiday Blizzard! Chaos in City Center!" she said with a laugh.

"News Flash!" Nick said, joining in on the game with his best newscaster impersonation. "Savanah Central parallelized with fear this morning as not one but two full inches of snow locks the city in its icy grip. We turn to Chaz at the weather desk to find out when the horror will end."

They were almost to Judy's apartment. For being practically a shoe box she had picked a pretty good location; the inner-city rail station was just a few blocks away. Nick was now well familiar with the route from here back to his place. In thirty minutes, he would be eating left over stir fry and watching _The Late Vole._

"Wonder if they'll shut down the rail line if it keeps going," Judy said, even as Nick heard the distant rumblings of the train. Didn't seem like a real concern in Nick's mind.

"Guess that's the risk, you afraid I'm going to get stranded in the scary city?"

"Or you might not make it that far," she said as they reached the bottom of the stairwell. "Frozen to death before you make it to the station."

"What a sad way to go. You'll find me frozen as an ice cube on the side walk."

"So you should stay here for tonight," Judy said as she climbed the stairs.

"Chief Buffalo Butt will give the eulogy, tasteful but with a hint of .…what?"

"I mean not the whole night unless you wanted, just till the storm's over," she said quickly. Her back was to him, but Nick heard the suppressed nervousness in her voice. For the first time in a long-time Nick Wilde found himself unable to speak, his mind racing.

"You uh, want me to come in?" was the brilliant statement that his brain settled on.

"Well, unless you had other plans tonight?" she said, turning and facing him.

"Yeah… No, I mean, nope free calendar!" he stuttered.

"Dad sent a case of his new blueberry ice wine. I thought that we could open a bottle maybe." She had turned back away and was digging in her coat for the keys to the building.

"Always happy to support family businesses." _Really, is that the best line you can think of_, he thought. It was at that moment they both happened to look up and notice that the air was clear and not a flake was falling.

"Pop-Pop says it comes in waves," Judy said softly.

"Who am I to argue with the wisdom of our elders," Nick answered, finally starting up the stairs behind Judy. Judy had just opened the door and started inside but turned around in the entrance.

"Oh, and Slick, I'm a country girl, of course I know my way around a stick shift," she said, regarding the surprised Nick, his mouth hanging open. "You're right, it is all worth it for that look… Coming?" And with that Judy disappeared into the apartment building, its door still standing ajar behind her, it's warm light a shining beacon. Finally ungluing himself from the spot, Nick followed in a moment later. Before the door to the outside closed for the night he swore he heard a bell softly ringing in the darkness.


End file.
